Last week, in search of a fun day trip to entertain our 4 year old son, my husband and I took the advice of a Lucchese friend and headed out to Marina di Vecchiana, about a 25 minute drive from Lucca, on the Mediterranean Coast.

Marina di Vecchiana is a long strip of beach that is surrounded by the San Rossore Natural Park, so instead of massive commercial beach stations, restaurants and bars (like what you find in Viareggio), here we found a beautiful, quiet beach, two small restaurants with outdoor and indoor dinning, and a small playground area in front of Il Papiro restaurant for small children. Even better, this seems to be the place where people bring their horses. They simply ride them up the beach to the restaurant, tie them to the post next to the restaurant, and then sit outside on the patio enjoying their lunch while their horses graze in front of them.

My son really loved petting the horses and playing on the playground. My husband and I loved the fact that we could enjoy a quiet meal outdoors, at the beach, and not have to entertain our son the whole time. The food at il Papiro was pretty good too. We had a big platter of Fritto Misto (batter dipped deep fried assorted fish, shrimp and calamari). They had some great white wines as well. Service was a bit slow, but we were not in a hurry.

After our meal we spent the rest of the day on the beach, which was just beautiful as you can see the marble capped Apenine Mountains in the distance. All in all, a great day trip from Lucca. Only problem is that this place is super crowded on the weekends and in the summer, so come early. You may also want to bring your bicycles as there are excellent bicycle paths in the woods that surround the beach.

Directions

From Lucca take the highway entrance Pisa Nord. Follow signs for Pisa Nord till you get to the Pisa Nord exit. After the exit the road comes to a T. Make a left onto the Aurelia in the direction of Vecchiano and Migliarino. Pass the Holiday Inn on your left. Continue straight until you reach a stop light with a parking lot and commercial center on your left. There will be a sign for Migliarino and Marina di Vecchiano. Make a right at the stop light and continue to bear right as you come out of the little tunnel. Continue straight until you see the sign for Marina di Vecchiano on your left. Take this left and follow the signs another 10 minutes through farmland and forest. The road is not great in places. Il Papiro restaurant is not the first, but the second restaurant as you turn right on the road that is parallel to the beach. You'll find it on your left. It has a shaded covered parking lot for its guests, so make sure not to park elsewhere.